By 1991 I had realized that Mindfulness
was a practical solution to serious problems
such as anxiety, depression & addiction,
as well as a powerful technique
for facilitating spiritual actualization.

Since then I have taught Mindfulness
in schools, colleges, churches, centers,
rehabs, clinics, hospice & other agencies;
& have spent over a year training a group
of traumatized veterans at the request
of the local office of Veterans Affairs.

It seems very safe to say that
Mindfulness has proven itself
as a reliable method for
helping people to become
what they are meant to be.

So I am offering a set of classes
on Monday evenings in Ventura
at the Center for Spiritual Living:

I. MINDFULNESS CLASS1st Mondays 6:30-8:30pm
This class is open to everyone.

I’ve never done what I was supposed to do.
Learn their name. Scan their clothes.
Notice the politics. Assess the finances.
I’m always busy doing something else.

When I was an educator I would
get a quick sense of the disabilities.
Then I would ignore them
so I could focus upon the capacity.

When I was a therapist I would
get a quick sense of the pathologies.
Then I would ignore that
so I could focus upon the potential.

This six year old attacks the keyboard
with two fisted alternating bashes.
So I suggest we try some Rock & Roll.
She drops into harmonious attunement.
And our jam mellows into Free Jazz.

The session leads the three of us
(along with their giant sweet dog)
into a grotto up in Matilija Canyon.
The child learns what picnic means.
The four of us make a meal together
seated upon a boulder embracing us all.

Then she wants to climb rocks.
I am following the unfolding beauty.
So we make our way together
an elder man, a little girl & a dog
playing back & forth across the creek
while Auntie watches from the boulder.

My focus goes total –
Keep the other adult in
line of sight or earshot.Let the child plan the route
but structure for safety.
She has a little cough
the water is very cold
her feet must stay dry.
Let her focus settle naturally.
Gently direct for learning.
Stones, brook,
roots, leaves,
golden sunshine…
silver reflections…
She is watching & listening –
Point her senses toward beauty.
Help her grow toward becoming
the special being she is meant to be.

For me there is a moment of wonder –
How do I know how to do this?
This was not a part of my training.This is what I was born to do.

And she will forever remember herself
as a competent successful
negotiator of tricky passages.

This girl is a shrewd bargainer,
& I honor my promises,
so at the days end
we return again to the piano.

I feel the call to comp on some chords
originally composed by Pachelbel.
She drops into the spirit of pure play.
And together we enter into sharing
a four-handed co-creative improvisation
making a moment of music
that no one who was present
will ever forget.

It is as if we mustlet the ways of the form die,so the way of the Soul can be born.

After my dad passed she got worse.
(Even though we took away the car keys.)
I would get phone calls at work:

The paramedics would say –
“We are at your mother’s house.
Her head is stuck under the sink.
She’s covered in blood.
She’s been drinking.”

The caregivers would say –
“As of Friday this agency will
no longer serve your mother.”
&
“You have to get me out of here.
Your mom is driving me crazy.”

My mother’s doctor was very glad
to write the order for Board & Care.

So I began the conversation with my mom –
“You can’t stay there.
It’s not safe for you.
You need to move.”
She said, “I’m not leaving.”
We had that conversation many times a day.

The helpful Board & Care owner said,
“Just let us handle it.
We do this all the time.”

They picked Mom up at her home
& then they called me at work.
“Your mother is threatening to jump out of the car!”
So she & I had the conversation again.
I remember falling to my knees in the parking lot.
My co-workers wondered if I was losing my mind.

She started to call me several times a day,
“Why can’t I come & live with you?”
“Because of the doctor’s orders, Mom.”
Which was true, but it wasn’t the truth.

Finally I told her the real truth.
“Mom, one month & I’d be insane.”
She believed me & began to settle in.

(A nurse told me a year or so ago,
“We have never had a patient like her.”
I said, “She was a nurse all her life.
They tend to be a rather tough lot.”)

I visit my mom at least once weekly.
I have come to like her more than ever.

A few days ago I took her for an outing.
I wish you could have seen her face as
I handed her the Soy Green Tea Blended
through the Subaru window.

We drove up Hwy 33 to Piedra Blanca.
I said, “This reminds me of the road trips
my father, your husband, used to take us on.”
She said, “You don’t have to say that part.
I know that your father was my husband.”

She had to pee out by Rose Valley.
Which is a big deal because
the walker isn’t easy on dirt trails.
But we got her safely to the john.
She said, “You’re just like a mother.”

As we exited the latrine,
I whispered, “Look.”
She gazed around & said,
“Ohhh, mountains.”
She closed her eyes & said,
“Smell the trees?”
A moment later she said,
“This is the best day of my life.”

Karma means that on the wheel of lives
every obligation will ultimately be fulfilled.
Thankfully, there are countless ways
to honor a promise once it’s given.

When I am waiting in line
for fish tacos on the pier,
I can see the old Cross on the hill.

For me it is not a religious icon
but rather a spiritual one –
much more ancient than
the instrument of execution.

I was taught that the Cross symbolizes
a human being on a great height,
standing upright with arms outstretched.

The vertical axis is the clear light
shining through the mind
for the blessing of the world.

The horizontal axis is the deep love
pouring through the heart
for the service of all beings.

As one stands steady in the light
one comes to know the truth that
we are not mere physical things,
but are, each of us,
all of us, spiritual beings.
So we must treat other people
with the love we have for self.

This is a Wisdom Teaching
not just for any single faith.
It is the Christ’s gift
for our whole species.